Q: We have an olive tree loaded with olives in various stages of ripeness from partially green to fully ripe and falling from the tree. Is it too early to harvest and cure the olives?
A: Now is the right time to harvest and either brine them or press them for oil. Harvest is often timed when they start to change color from green to purple and it looks like yours are doing just that. The only difference between green olives and black olives is ripeness. Unripe olives are green and fully ripe olives are black.
Olives are cured or pickled before consumption, using various methods including oil-cured, water-cured, brine-cured, dry-cured, and lye-cured. Green olives must be soaked in a lye solution before brining, whereas ripe black olives can proceed straight to brining.
Arizona’s desert climate encourages rapid growth and olive trees grown for oil require less water than those grown for canning, so there’s a natural bond with the desert environment for olive oil production. Arizona grown-olives are produced primarily for their high quality oil.
Peter L. Warren is the urban horticulture agent for the Pima County Cooperative Extension and the University of Arizona. Email: plwarren@cals. arizona.edu
